Of Pink Mohawks and Eclipsed Phases

Fairly soon, here, we’re going to finish out the second scenario of Horror on the Orient Express. It’s a pain in the ass how being (more or less) a grownup can get in the way of systematically playing pretend with your friends, but it’s a grim truth of the world.

Once the second HotOE scenario is done, we’re going to take a bit of a break from Call of Cthulhu. Which is probably not a bad idea, because HotOE is, to be quite frank, unrelentingly grim.

The choice of game to escape this grimness, though, is rather… Unusual. And I would not have even suggested it if it weren’t for the fact that Alexis’s deepest, most heartfelt wish is to play a centaur. And lo and behold, Eclipse Phase lets you do so.

The thing about Eclipse Phase is that it’s intended to be played as a game of horror and conspiracy in a bizarre sci-fi future. Which is great! I’ve listened to plenty of EP games that do just that.

What I’m going to aim to do, however, is a bit different. Some of you may be familiar with the game Shadowrun, which is basically Neuromancer with orcs and elves and magic. For the most part, Shadowrun is a pretty serious game. You’re mercenaries living on the raggedy edge of the law, your only saving grace the deniability of your existence by the megacorps using you as pawns. It’s black ops from hell to breakfast, and you don’t trust anybody. Not even the guy who gave you the job.

And then there’s Pink Mohawk Shadowrun. This is Shadowrun played like The Matrix instead of Mission: Impossible. It’s radically different than the play style advocated by the source material, but it gets a lot of mileage from people who just want to have fun with the setting and not spend four hours planning a heist every game.

I fully intend to run the Pink Mohawk-equivalent of Eclipse Phase. Considering pink mohawks are probably the tamest fashion choice available in EP, I’ll have to come up with some other name for it, but I feel like the system and the setting can handle pulpy space opera shenanigans with only mild smatterings of horror here and there. It’s going to be more Outlaw Star, less Akira. More Cowboy Bebop, less Ghost in the Shell. More Mass Effect, less Dead Space.

You get the idea.

It’ll be a grand experiment. You guys will be the first to know how it plays out, trust me.